Jackie Page #7

O'DONNELL

I did like Dewey Circle. If we

could get rid of the leaves in

time.

39.

METZLER:

Problem there is not just theleaves. It's the access roads.

CLOSE ON Jackie --as the mens’ voices now FADE, a trance

settling.

Suddenly, Jackie steps out from under the umbrellas --into

the rain --inexorably drawn toward the hill.

BOBBY:

Jackie?!

But she ignores him. Bobby grabs an umbrella, struggling tofollow and keep her under cover.

BOBBY (CONT’D)

Where are we going?

JACKIE:

He can’t just be buried anywhere.

He deserves more.

They keep walking.

BOBBY:

Watch your step.

She stumbles.

BOBBY (CONT’D)

Are you alright?

JACKIE:

My shoes are sticking in the mud.

She keeps walking.

Finally, she's at the front of LEE MANSION staring down.

JACKIE'S POV --endless graves and mist below.

Jackie makes eye contact with Walton. He simply nods.

Walton turns to Metzler, who's holding a wooden STAKE.

Metzler hands him the stake, and Walton walks directly to a

spot in the center of the hill, driving it into the ground.

But Jackie isn’t satisfied. She pulls out the stake, walks a

few feet to the right, and drives it back into the ground.

It’s settled.

MOMENTS LATER -

STILLS:

Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman

Billy Crudup and Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman and Greta Gerwig

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman

Max Casella, Beth Grant, Peter Sarsgaard, Natalie Portman, Greta Gerwig and Richard E. Grant

40.

Jackie walks with Bobby through the cemetery.

BOBBY:

I think maybe you should talk to aPriest.

JACKIE:

Maybe.

(beat)

Bobby, I want to talk to the press.

BOBBY:

No. You let Dave handle that.

CUT TO:

EXT. KENNEDY COMPOUND -DECK

The Journalist scribbles while Jackie talks...

JACKIE:

You know... that first night, BobMcNamara, he said he'd buy back ourold house for us in Georgetown.

(beat)

I don’t really have things. I don’teven have a home.

JOURNALIST:

And what about this house?

JACKIE:

This? It’s awfully cold.

JOURNALIST:

Well you could light a fire. Invitepeople over. The parties that youthrew at the White House, nobodyhad ever seen anything like that.

Private concerts with artists and

friends drinking champagne andsinging-

JACKIE:

Are you suggesting I throw a party?

JOURNALIST:

Well, no, not now, obviously. I’monly suggesting that you’ve broughtlife to a cold house before.

41.

JACKIE:

That house wasn’t mine. Neither is

this one.

(beat)

Nothing is ever mine. Not to keep,

anyway.

JOURNALIST:

Leaving that house must have beenvery difficult.

JACKIE:

A First Lady must always be readyto pack her suitcases. It’sinevitable.

CUT TO:

EXT. WHITE HOUSE -BALCONY

Jackie and Bobby talk outside in the cold.

BOBBY:

We've found beds for almost all the

family. Truman is at Blair House.

There was a brief crisis about him

not having a driver, but Ikeoffered his.

(beat)

We're running a bed and breakfast.

They share the faintest hint of a smile.

BOBBY (CONT'D)

Lyndon just wants to move into theOval. He wants to address Congress.

I'll hold him off as long as I can.

But it has to happen sooner orlater.

Jackie doesn't answer, digesting the inevitable. Treading

lightly -

BOBBY (CONT’D)

Jackie... They're worried about anoutdoor procession. They thinkit's a security risk. Everyone's

spooked. Apparently even State'sdiscouraging foreign dignitariesfrom attending.

Jackie doesn’t respond. Trying to reason with her -

42.

BOBBY (CONT'D)

It's eight city blocks to SaintMatthews. That's a long way to bestrolling through crowds.

(beat)

All those rooftops. All those

windows...

Bobby trails off. Jackie holds his gaze.

JACKIE:

(firm)

Bobby it’s our last chance.

We have to march with him.

CUT TO:

INT. JACKIE’S BEDROOM -WHITE HOUSE

Jackie sits alone, wearing a bathrobe, drinking VODKA in herdarkened room.

Outside, night has fallen and all is quiet --but she can’tsleep.

Restless, she rises.

INT. PRESIDENTIAL BEDROOM -WHITE HOUSE

Jackie steps inside another dark, still room.

Pausing in the threshold, she listens for sound in the hall.

She’s visibly tense, clearly a stranger to this space.

Only when she’s confident that she’s alone does she take a

breath and look around --at her husband’s private bedroom.

At the room’s center --a four-poster bed, stained wood, very

masculine.

Jackie walks to the edge of the empty bed. She’s dressed up

for her husband --but he’s not there.

She turns to the Victrola on the night stand and turns it on.

As Camelot

begins to play...

Jackie moves to the BEDSIDE TABLE --stacked high with BOOKS

and bottles of PAIN KILLERS.

43.

One-by-one, she picks them up, reading the book’s spines andmedicine labels.

She turns to the credenza --a line of PHOTOS. President

Kennedy with FAMILY, POLITICAL DIGNITARIES and MOVIE STARS.

INT. JACKIE’S BEDROOM -WHITE HOUSE

Jackie surveys her famous wardrobe.

She takes a swig from her glass and sets it on the shelf.

Then she drops her robe.

Jackie pulls a Chanel gown off the rack and steps into it.

A beat, as she considers herself in the mirror. She’s as

gorgeous as ever, but she doesn’t like what she sees.

Jackie steps out of the gown, leaving it on the floor.

Another swig from that bottle and she pulls another dress

from a hangar.

And now, QUICK CUTS -Jackie

DRESSING and UNDRESSING, compulsively cycling through

her wardrobe of designer OUTFITS while she drinks.

Also--EARRINGS and NECKLACES, one-after-the-other, in a

FRENZY.

Finally, the bottle is EMPTY --and a pile of discarded

clothes lies at her feet.

Now, Jackie stumbles to her DRESSING TABLE and takes out her

MAKE-UP.

With an unsteady hand, she goes to work with her eyeliner,

lipstick and mascara.

She rises and exits.

INT. OVAL OFFICE -WHITE HOUSE

She slowly enters and approaches the President’s desk.

She sits still in his seat, tears running down her face.

Jackie stares into the distance --as Camelot

ends.

CUT TO:

44.

INT. KENNEDY COMPOUND -LIVING ROOM

Jackie sits facing the Journalist.

JACKIE:

How would you write that?

JOURNALIST:

She lights yet another cigaretteand through her soft sobs, explains

--Jack wasn’t perfect. But he wasperfect for our country.

(beat)

And I ask about his flaws, and she

explains-

JACKIE:

(playing along)

--Perfect people can’t change. Jackwas always getting better...

stronger.

(beat)

Sometimes he would walk into the

desert, alone, just to let himselfbe tempted by the devil. But healways came back to us, his belovedfamily.

A beat --as Jackie exhales her cigarette.

JACKIE (CONT’D)

And I don’t smoke.

CUT TO:

INT. LIMOUSINE

Jackie sits in the backseat of a limousine. Where -or when

--we are isn't clear. Another 'interview' --this one with

a PRIEST, who sits across from her.

JACKIE:

I shouldn't say these things...

PRIEST:

That's why you're here, isn't it?

To talk about what happened?

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